Borellii & Cacatuoides, is it love?

[Jayha24]

Hello everyone!
So the title really says it all. Right now I have a 50g with two pairs of A. Borellii (wanted a male and 3 females but gosh darn they're hard to sex when they're little) and a 20g with a pair of beautiful "orange flash" Cacatuoides.
Water params for both tanks are: temp-80F, ph-6.4, ammonia and nitrites 0ppm, and nitrates about 5ppm.
I don't have a test kit for water hardness, but I'm using only RO water.
So here's the question(s). The Borellii are a shade over an inch long. I've been feeding them delicious live mosquito larvae since the weathers nice. They are just beginning to show they're colors. Here's the question. The males display, arc their bodies, and wiggle for the females quite a bit which leads me to believe they're "in the mood" but the gals just aren't interested yet. How long does use it usually take from when they first start to show color for the females to be ready? And is there anything else I can do to help them feel randy? Once they are ready will they choose their territory or is that only when they have the ankle biters?
My last question pertains to the Cacatuoides. They're fully colored adults, and the male won't leave the females side for a second. There's absolutely no aggression between them. He just follows and displays/ arcs and wiggles for all he's worth. Occasionally she'll arc back but that's the extent of it. Are they on the right track, and is there any little tricks to help her along?
I'm super excited to see some of these little beauties become parents so any and all advice/ tips is really appreciated!!!
I'm writing this from my phone but I have a few pics I'll upload of the Borelliis coloring up, and I'll have a couple of the Cacatuoides as well. (just waiting for a small bacterial bloom to finish up so the water is clear)
Again thanks in advance for any and all replies.
Please forgive the lengthy post.

~Jayha

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, 1" A. borellii are still not sexually mature (unless stunted), but close. If given a chance juvenile male apistos will try to claim a territory. Females tend to take a bit longer to mature. I think you just need a bit more patience. Your A. cacatuoides male certainly is interested in breeding, but the female doesn't seem quite ready yet. The arching of the body is something females do to placate the male's eagerness. If they remain together, it is a good indication that she will be in breeding condition soon (within a month?). Again, you need a little more patience.

 

[Jayha24]

Gotcha. Thanks for the insight. I had another question. My mosquito larvae will be running out soon. I've thought about using frozen bloodworms occasionally for conditioning food as a replacement, but I've read in a couple of forums that bloodworms aren't good for apistos. Is there any validity to this, or would they be ok?

 

[gerald]

One reason (there may be others) that bloodworms (Chironomid midge larvae) are questionable as fish food is because of the places they are commercially harvested from. Like Tubifex worms, they are unusually tolerant of heavily polluted water, so they might contain toxic metals, pesticides, and other things that could harm fish. I don't know whether there are farms that grow bloodworms specifically for fish food (as opposed to worms harvested from municipal, agricultural or industrial wastewater treatment facilities) but if so then I would try to get those worms. With blackworms (Lumbriculus), there are a few farms that grow worms specifically as fish food (without exposure to fish), and other sources that harvest them as a by-product from fish farms, where they might be more prone to contamination with bacteria or protozoa that are pathogenic to fish. Consider your source. For many years I've used bloodworms and mosquito larvae that invade my rain barrels and plant tubs in my yard. I assume they are fairly safe, as they are never exposed to fish, wastewater, or urban/agricultural stormwater runoff.

 

[Jayha24]

So here's a pic of my male and female Cacs. The male is still pursuing her quite a bit, but she's starting to turn the other way when she sees him coming. Hopefully she starts taking an interest in him soon. I think her brushing him off is making him a little annoyed. lol

 

[Mike Wise]

Nice Orange-Flash color morph. It is one of my favorite domestic strains of cacatuoides. Hope you see fry soon!

 

[Jayha24]

Thank you me too! Just recently the male has started chasing her, and isn't displaying as much. Suppose he can only handle rejection for so long. lol
Anyway here's a couple of pics of my Borelli's. The bigger female I have is looking more, and more plump every day. The males are just starting to turn blue, and I can see little shiny blue flecks on their cheeks, and temples. Unlike the Cac male they seem to have no problem waiting for the females to notice them. I even saw the plump female doing a little tail whipping earlier.

 

[Jayha24]

Ok it's official. The borellii female in the pictures is "in the mood"! Only trouble is there's 2 males in the tank and they hell bent on being her babies daddy. (No serious violence just a TON of posturing). My question is should I separate one of the males? Not just so the other two can do their thing, but I'm wondering if he might be a threat to the pairs brood. Any advice/insight is hugely welcome!!!